If there's a word that has reigned supreme in the world's consciousness in recent years then it must be 'uncertainty'.
Uncertainty at the consequences of Brexit, uncertainty about the impact of Coronavirus, uncertainty in the outcome of a war in Europe and the direction of energy prices and interest rates. It's a lot to contemplate and perhaps not always a good idea to dwell on for too long, if only for the good of your own health.
But after a decade of stability and growth Liverpool Football Club finds itself in a period of uncertainty, both on and off the pitch. The past five years has been a period of great success for the Reds. Six trophies has been a satisfactory return under Jurgen Klopp and but for some fine margins, it could have been much more.
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Those margins matter though of course, when you look at who has stood in the way of the recent honours list and what also could have been - namely Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Of course, this season has been a different story, with the previous heights becoming unattainable in a below-par campaign. Champions League and FA Cup aspirations are still alive but that cannot mask the abject nature of Liverpool's Premier League season so far - the true barometer of how a team is fairing in the wider picture.
Necessary change is coming and with that comes more uncertainty.
Off the pitch, owners Fenway Sports Group - celebrated by large sections of the fanbase for instilling stability and growth in a club that was on the rocks and criticised by other factions for not investing enough to keep up with the Joneses - dropped a bombshell in November by confirming that they were seeking external investment into the club while failing to rule out the possibility of selling up lock, stock and barrel.
Depending on which side of the FSG fence you position yourself this is either fantastic news or cause for great concern. And let's be honest, it's perfectly acceptable to be somewhere between the two as well.
Like all great teams, standing still is not an option. Players reach their peak and then have to be replaced by newer versions of themselves. Loyalty in football is only kept alive by the dedication of the committed supporter and we have seen how that has been exploited over the years, particularly since the sport's popularity reached new heights once powered by the marketing juggernaut that is the Premier League.
Those still scarred by the tenure of George Gillett and Tom Hicks know exactly what bad owners look like and FSG are not that. Their stewardship of the club has not been perfect; a mass walkout over a rise in ticket prices and outrage at the sneaky attempts to join a European Super League are blots on the CV, but the development of Anfield, restructuring of the whole operation and demonstrable success on the pitch outweigh the low points.
However, if the expectation of Liverpool Football Club is to dine at the top table of domestic and European football indefinitely and simply be better than Manchester City, then market forces dictate the Reds need more money and like it or not, where it comes from is quite likely to be only a secondary consideration.
Gerard Houllier's noble pursuit of Manchester United in the early 2000s was rail-roaded by the emergence of Chelsea, whose new Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich single-handedly changed the face of English football. The club was slammed by envious on-lookers who criticised Russian oil money being pumped into the English game. But their fans didn't care and a fairly average London club, who had won one league title in their history, was turned into one that has now won six and been crowned European Champions twice.
No English club has won more trophies than Chelsea's 18 since the turn of the century. Their big-money investment project has worked a treat.
Under the management of one the game's truly great managers, Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have achieved a near-miracle by matching Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City for the past five years. City enjoy the better overall record but there has been very little in it, which is all the more remarkable given the vastly different operating models of the two clubs.
But chasing Pep Guardiola is now only one problem for the Reds. Just like Houllier discovered, other powers are at play. It remains to be seen how sustained the re-emergence of Arsenal will be or if they are simply just having a great season under Mikel Arteta, but the real danger is a team that hasn't won a single pot since the long-defunct Texaco Cup in 1975.
Saudi-owned Newcastle United are once again a force to be reckoned with and they are only just getting started. Already they have taken themselves from being routine relegation candidates to a team that now looks odds-on to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in almost 20 years.
The Magpies are here to stay and their fans are loving it whether you like it or not. Given Saudi Arabia's questionable human rights record, Newcastle's takeover was scrutinised heavily, but it still passed the Premier League test and they now have a presence in the English game for the foreseeable future. No amount of objection to where their money comes from is going to change that.
So what of Liverpool? What do they need to do to realistically compete with Manchester City and Newcastle?
FSG have clearly accepted that carrying on as they are is not an option. The club cannot afford to stand still, something that has been acknowledge by United who have launched their own search for a new owner.
Latest reports suggest that John Henry and his consortium are falling down on the side of minority investment. That is good news if you like the idea of continuity and certainty in who owns the club, but bad news if you would prefer an outright takeover. But whichever way the future Liverpool ends up being constructed, the only certainty is that it will be built with money from someone extremely wealthy and when it comes to dealing with billionaires, truly ethical ones appear to be in short supply.
Some have voiced opposition to the idea of Liverpool becoming a football club that is propped up by Qatari state money. It is certainly not a prospect that this writer had ever envisaged, but if reservations about such a move are aligned to the same ones raised regarding the host nation of this year's World Cup then I'm sorry to say that the pull of the pound is going to heavily outweigh what you might consider to be right or wrong.
When it comes to top flight football clubs being run for benefit of their fans and the community they serve, that horse bolted a long time ago. The supposed values of Liverpool Football Club won't keep Middle East investment out of the picture, even if many don't like the idea of it. In short, it is probably too late to do much about it.
There is even some suggestion that investment or a takeover of that nature may actually be helped to be facilitated, with wider forces at play. As reported on Tuesday by the ECHO's Business of Football Writer, Dave Powell, the new owners of Newcastle may have been given some encouragement to embed themselves in the English game.
Speaking to the ECHO on Monday, Professor Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at SKEMA Business School in Paris, said: "Liverpool is at the edge of Europe, it is a trade hub and a port city and people in Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi will see that. Britain is open for business and the Government, like they did with the PIF (Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund) deal for Newcastle when Boris Johnson was PM, will be encouraging this to happen.
"With PIF, the Tories needed it to happen. They didn't want the Saudis to become disaffected as it had the potential for subsequent contracts that were in place to fall through. Johnson was mindful of the 'red wall' seats and enabling the PIF deal to go through kept them in with some kind of chance in those areas.
"It is much less about managing reputation and these aren't trophy assets, they are strategic ones. Nothing will get done without the say-so of the governments of these countries giving it the green light.
"Owning such assets as Liverpool also provides them with an element of security. Say if Qatar arrive on Merseyside then it will give the UK a reason to care about relations with Qatar and provides the Qataris with an anchor. That could help when it comes to trade deals or when it comes to matters of Qatari national security."
None of that may be of particular interest to Liverpool supporters who simply want to have a football club that wins trophies and signs the best players, but it offers an insight into what pressures could be at play if a wealthy investment group like Qatar Investment Authority follows up on reported intertest with a concrete offer.
Business is business. That is what elite football has become. And if someone decides to take it one step further and slap down £4.5billion for an outright takeover, you can be pretty sure it will be accepted regardless of where it comes from.
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